Funeral services were held at the First Christian Ref. church on Saturday afternoon for william Bruins, 70, Bellflower, Calif., who died very suddenly Friday evening at the home of his sister and husband, Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Mouw.
Mr. and Mrs. Bruins and their children, Mr. and Mrs. Aldred Bruins, had arrived Thursday evening and had planned to spend several days visiting the relatives in this vicinity.
While at the Mouw home, Mr. Bruins suffered a heart attack and passed away at about 10:45 that evening.
Besides his wife, he is survived by the following ten children Bill,, Ben , Aldred and Mary (Mrs. John Stroup) all of Bellflower, Margaret (Mrs. Wm. Van Kooten) of Long Island, Kans., Vivian (Mrs. Wm. Kookmees) of Bellflower, Betty (Mrs. Wayne Harris) of Lang Beach, Calif., Robert at home, Ronald of Bellflower and Eilene (Mrs. Jim Reis) also of Bellflower. Also surving are 17 grandchildren, a brother Albert Bruins of Bellflower and a sister, Mrs. Wm. Mouw of Sioux Center.
Following the service here, the body was shipped by train to Bellflower where funeral services are being held this week.
Mrs. Chris Van Roekel and Mrs. Bruins accompanied the body by train and Mr. and Mrs. Aldred Bruins left by car. Mrs. Van Roekel is a sister of the widow.
Sioux Center News 1953-05-07.
Contributor: John Bruins (49595906)
William John Bruins was the youngest child of Jan Willem Bruins and Aaltje Rens, his third wife; this made "Will" the eighth child of Jan Willem.
Trained as a civil engineer (degree in Civil Engineering from University of Iowa class of 1906) Will built railroads throughout northwest Iowa and South Dakota and surveyed a number of public buildings. His early professional life had him constantly moving about the countryside on jobs.
When he married Maggie (Margaretha Mouw) in 1910, he changed to farming in Minnesota and on the various properties in Sioux County owned by Berend Mouw (his father-in-law), and farmed outside of Sioux Center, Iowa until about 1945. He and his wife Maggie retired and moved to Southern California, joining most of their children and family, who had moved out during the war years to work in various aviation factories and shipyards in the area.
He died of a heart attack while visiting Iowa on May 1, 1953 and is buried with much of the Southern California family in Sunnyside Cemetery (now Forest Lawn) in Long Beach, California.
Funeral services were held at the First Christian Ref. church on Saturday afternoon for william Bruins, 70, Bellflower, Calif., who died very suddenly Friday evening at the home of his sister and husband, Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Mouw.
Mr. and Mrs. Bruins and their children, Mr. and Mrs. Aldred Bruins, had arrived Thursday evening and had planned to spend several days visiting the relatives in this vicinity.
While at the Mouw home, Mr. Bruins suffered a heart attack and passed away at about 10:45 that evening.
Besides his wife, he is survived by the following ten children Bill,, Ben , Aldred and Mary (Mrs. John Stroup) all of Bellflower, Margaret (Mrs. Wm. Van Kooten) of Long Island, Kans., Vivian (Mrs. Wm. Kookmees) of Bellflower, Betty (Mrs. Wayne Harris) of Lang Beach, Calif., Robert at home, Ronald of Bellflower and Eilene (Mrs. Jim Reis) also of Bellflower. Also surving are 17 grandchildren, a brother Albert Bruins of Bellflower and a sister, Mrs. Wm. Mouw of Sioux Center.
Following the service here, the body was shipped by train to Bellflower where funeral services are being held this week.
Mrs. Chris Van Roekel and Mrs. Bruins accompanied the body by train and Mr. and Mrs. Aldred Bruins left by car. Mrs. Van Roekel is a sister of the widow.
Sioux Center News 1953-05-07.
Contributor: John Bruins (49595906)
William John Bruins was the youngest child of Jan Willem Bruins and Aaltje Rens, his third wife; this made "Will" the eighth child of Jan Willem.
Trained as a civil engineer (degree in Civil Engineering from University of Iowa class of 1906) Will built railroads throughout northwest Iowa and South Dakota and surveyed a number of public buildings. His early professional life had him constantly moving about the countryside on jobs.
When he married Maggie (Margaretha Mouw) in 1910, he changed to farming in Minnesota and on the various properties in Sioux County owned by Berend Mouw (his father-in-law), and farmed outside of Sioux Center, Iowa until about 1945. He and his wife Maggie retired and moved to Southern California, joining most of their children and family, who had moved out during the war years to work in various aviation factories and shipyards in the area.
He died of a heart attack while visiting Iowa on May 1, 1953 and is buried with much of the Southern California family in Sunnyside Cemetery (now Forest Lawn) in Long Beach, California.
Family Members
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John William Bruins
1911–1997
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Ben Bruins
1912–1987
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Aldred "Witty" Bruins
1914–1963
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Baby boy Bruins
1918–1918
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Margaret Bruins Van Kooten
1919–1993
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Vivian E. Bruins Koolmees
1922–2014
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Beatrice Nina Harris
1924–2007
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Robert H "Bob" Bruins
1927–1995
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Ronald Earl "Bud" Bruins
1928–2012
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Eileen Joan Bruins Rees
1931–2008
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